Question about tank mates already in the tank!

Oratic created the topic: Question about tank mates already in the tank!

I currently have a 55 gallon, with a HOB Topfin 75 gallon filter & the eheim canister 2213 I believe. I have a albino tiger oscar in the tank and two plecos, the oscar is about 2-3 inches long. A couple days ago I added a blue electric acara(these two are okay and not fighting), after the oscar and acara started becoming buddies they are both ganging up on the 3 silver dollars. Is this how it is going to be should I add some type of cover for them & if so what do they like? or is it better off for me to return them?

Additional question, can Blue acaras & oscars mate? They always stay next to each other and follow each other around, is this normal behavior?

Suprd71 replied the topic: Question about tank mates already in the tank!

Major problem you have is tank size. While Oscar and Acara, I presume, are still small, they wont be for long. Plecos, if the common type can overwhelm 55g of water by themselves. Silver Dollars are generally good cichlid tankmates, but being a skittish, helter-skelter type of fish, they need big space to really do well. They also do best in small schools, with 5 being minimum, and 8-9 being optimal. The recommended minimum tank for a single Oscar is 75g with a 4ftx18in base. Thats for Oscar alone, no other fish of any kind. So, lets say you want to keep what you have, maybe add 3-4 more SD to make them comfortable. You need a 6ft tank of 180-220 gallons. You cannot keep what you have in 55g. Fish wont do well, and you will struggle to maintain the tank. No fun for you, eventual serious health issues for the fish. Oscar and Acara will not mate. Both fish are many months from sexual maturity, wont happen anyways. They are hanging together as a strength in numbers sort of thing. That unlikely to last as Oscar becomes 3x the size of the Acara.